Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
CHAPTER 473-S.F.No. 1288
An act relating to natural resources; modifying
separate selection criteria for moose and turkey
licenses; exempting trappers from blaze orange
requirements; modifying certain licenses issued
without a fee; modifying provisions for Take a Kid
Fishing weekend; modifying certain provisions for deer
hunting licenses; modifying ammunition requirements
for taking big game; providing for hunting licenses
for persons with mental retardation; modifying
provisions for designating experimental waters;
modifying provisions for fishing contests; modifying
requirements for transporting archery bows; modifying
lighted fishing lure provisions; appropriating money
for a state land inventory; amending Minnesota
Statutes 1998, sections 97A.431, subdivision 4;
97A.435, subdivision 4; 97A.441, subdivision 7;
97A.445, subdivision 1; 97A.475, subdivision 2;
97B.015, by adding a subdivision; 97B.031, subdivision
1; 97B.051; 97B.071; 97B.301, by adding a subdivision;
97C.001, subdivision 1; 97C.081, subdivisions 2, 3,
and by adding subdivisions; and 97C.335, as amended;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 97B.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97A.431,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [SEPARATE SELECTION; ELIGIBILITY.] (a) The
commissioner may conduct a separate selection for up to 20
percent of the moose licenses to be issued for an area. Only
owners of, and tenants living on, at least 160 acres of
agricultural or grazing land in the area, and their family
members, are eligible for the separate selection under this
paragraph. Persons that are unsuccessful in a separate
selection must be included in the selection for the remaining
licenses.
(b) The commissioner must conduct a separate selection for
20 percent of the moose licenses to be issued each year. Only
individuals who have applied at least ten times for a moose
license and who have never received a license are eligible for
this separate selection.
(c) The commissioner may by rule establish criteria for:
(1) determining eligible family members under this
subdivision. paragraph (a); and
(2) verifying that an individual has made at least ten
unsuccessful applications for the purposes of paragraph (b).
(d) A person who is unsuccessful in a separate selection
under this subdivision must be included in the selection for the
remaining licenses.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97A.435,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4. [SEPARATE SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE LICENSEES.] (a)
The commissioner may conduct a separate selection for up to 20
percent of the turkey licenses to be issued for any area. Only
persons that who are owners or tenants of and that who live on
at least 40 acres of agricultural or grazing land in the area,
and their family members, are eligible applicants for turkey
licenses for the separate selection. The qualifying
agricultural or grazing land may be noncontiguous. Persons that
who are unsuccessful in a separate selection must be included in
the selection for the remaining licenses. Persons that who
obtain a license in a separate selection must allow public
turkey hunting on their land during that turkey season.
(b) The commissioner may by rule establish criteria for
determining eligible family members under this subdivision.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97A.441,
subdivision 7, is amended to read:
Subd. 7. [OWNERS OR TENANTS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND.] (a) The
commissioner may issue, without an additional a fee, a license
to take additional an antlerless deer with firearms under
section 97B.301, subdivision 4, to a person who is an owner or
tenant and lives is living and actively farming on at least ten
80 acres of agricultural land, as defined in section 97B.001, in
an area where the commissioner has made these licenses
available. Landowners and tenants applying for a license under
this subdivision must receive preference over other applicants
for the licenses deer permit areas that have deer archery
licenses to take additional deer under section 97B.301,
subdivision 4. A person may receive only one license per year
under this subdivision. For properties with coowners or
cotenants, only one coowner or cotenant may receive a license
under this subdivision per year. The license issued under this
subdivision is restricted to the land owned or leased by the
holder of the license within the permit area where the
qualifying land is located. The holder of the license may
transfer the license to the holder's spouse or dependent.
Notwithstanding sections 97A.415, subdivision 1, and 97B.301,
subdivision 2, the holder of the license may purchase an
additional license for taking deer and may take an additional
deer under that license.
(b) Persons A person who obtain obtains a license under
paragraph (a) must allow public deer hunting on their land
during that deer hunting season, with the exception of the first
Saturday and Sunday during the deer hunting season applicable to
the license issued under section 97A.475, subdivision 2, clause
(4).
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97A.445,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [ANGLING; TAKE A KID FISHING WEEKEND.] A
resident over age 18 may take fish by angling without a license
during one Saturday and Sunday three-day consecutive period of
the angling season designated by rule of the commissioner if
accompanied by a child who is under age 16. The commissioner
shall publicize the Saturday and Sunday three-day period as
"Take a Kid Fishing Weekend."
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97A.475,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [RESIDENT HUNTING.] Fees for the following
licenses, to be issued to residents only, are:
(1) for persons under age 65 to take small game, $10;
(2) for persons age 65 or over, $5;
(3) to take turkey, $16;
(4) to take deer with firearms, $22;
(5) to take deer by archery, $22;
(6) to take moose, for a party of not more than six
persons, $275;
(7) to take bear, $33;
(8) to take elk, for a party of not more than two persons,
$220;
(9) to take antlered deer in more than one zone, $44; and
(10) to take Canada geese during a special season, $3; and
(11) to take an antlered buck throughout the state in any
open deer season, except as restricted under section 97B.305,
$66.
Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.015, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 6. [PROVISIONAL CERTIFICATE FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION OR A RELATED CONDITION.] Upon the recommendation of
a course instructor, the commissioner may issue a provisional
firearms safety certificate to a person who satisfactorily
completes the classroom portion of the firearms safety course
but is unable to pass the written or an alternate format exam
portion of the course because of mental retardation or a related
condition as defined in section 97B.1055, subdivision 1. The
certificate is valid only when used according to section
97B.1055.
Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.031,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION THAT MAY BE USED
TO TAKE BIG GAME.] (a) A person may take big game with a firearm
only if:
(1) the rifle, shotgun, and handgun used is a caliber of at
least .23 inches;
(2) the firearm is loaded only with single projectile
ammunition;
(3) a projectile used is a caliber of at least .23 inches
and has a soft point or is an expanding bullet type;
(4) the ammunition has a case length of at least 1.285
inches;
(5) the muzzle-loader used is incapable of being loaded at
the breech;
(6) the smooth-bore muzzle-loader used is a caliber of at
least .45 inches; and
(7) the rifled muzzle-loader used is a caliber of at least
.40 inches.
(b) A person may not take big game with a .30 caliber M-1
carbine cartridge.
(c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), clause (4), a person may
take big game with a ten millimeter cartridge that is at least
0.95 inches in length and may take big game with a .45
Winchester Magnum cartridge.
Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.051, is
amended to read:
97B.051 [TRANSPORTATION OF ARCHERY BOWS.]
Except as specified under section 97B.055, subdivision 2, a
person may not transport an archery bow in a motor vehicle
unless the bow is:
(1) unstrung;
(2) completely contained in a case; or
(3) in the closed trunk or rear-most enclosed portion of a
motor vehicle that is not accessible from the passenger
compartment.
Sec. 9. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.071, is
amended to read:
97B.071 [BLAZE ORANGE REQUIREMENTS.]
(a) Except as provided in rules adopted under paragraph
(c), a person may not hunt or trap during the open season where
deer may be taken by firearms under applicable laws and
ordinances, unless the visible portion of the person's cap and
outer clothing above the waist, excluding sleeves and gloves, is
blaze orange. Blaze orange includes a camouflage pattern of at
least 50 percent blaze orange within each foot square. This
section does not apply to migratory waterfowl hunters on waters
of this state or in a stationary shooting location or to
trappers on waters of this state.
(b) Except as provided in rules adopted under paragraph
(c), and in addition to the requirement in paragraph (a), a
person may not take small game other than turkey, migratory
birds, raccoons, and predators, except when hunting with
nontoxic shot or while trapping, unless a visible portion of at
least one article of the person's clothing above the waist is
blaze orange. This paragraph does not apply to a person hunting
by falconry.
(c) The commissioner may, by rule, prescribe an alternative
color in cases where paragraph (a) or (b) would violate the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Public Law Number
103-141.
(d) A violation of paragraph (b) shall not result in a
penalty, but is punishable only by a safety warning.
Sec. 10. [97B.1055] [HUNTING BY PERSONS WITH MENTAL
RETARDATION OR A RELATED CONDITION.]
Subdivision 1. [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this section
and section 97B.015, subdivision 6, "person with mental
retardation or a related condition" means a person who has been
diagnosed as having substantial limitations in present
functioning, manifested as significantly subaverage intellectual
functioning, existing concurrently with demonstrated deficits in
adaptive behavior, and who manifests these conditions before the
person's 22nd birthday. A person with a related condition means
a person who meets the diagnostic definition under section
252.27, subdivision 1a.
Subd. 2. [OBTAINING A LICENSE.] (a) Notwithstanding
section 97B.020, a person with mental retardation or a related
condition may obtain a firearms hunting license with a
provisional firearms safety certificate issued under section
97B.015, subdivision 6.
(b) Any person accompanying or assisting a person with
mental retardation or a related condition under this section
must possess a valid firearms safety certificate issued by the
commissioner.
Subd. 3. [ASSISTANCE REQUIRED.] A person who obtains a
firearms hunting license under subdivision 2 must be accompanied
and assisted by a parent, guardian, or other adult person
designated by a parent or guardian when hunting. A person who
is not hunting but is solely accompanying and assisting a person
with mental retardation or a related condition need not obtain a
hunting license.
Subd. 4. [PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.] (a) This section does
not entitle a person to possess a firearm if the person is
otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or
federal law or a court order.
(b) No person shall knowingly authorize or permit a person,
who by reason of mental retardation or a related condition is
incapable of safely possessing a firearm, to possess a firearm
to hunt in the state or on any boundary water of the state.
Sec. 11. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97B.301, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 7. [ALL SEASON BUCK LICENSE.] A resident may obtain
an all season buck license to take one buck by firearm or
archery during any season statewide. A person obtaining an all
season buck license does not qualify for hunting under
subdivision 3 or 4.
Sec. 12. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.001,
subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Subdivision 1. [DEFINITION; DESIGNATION.] (a) Experimental
waters are lakes and streams where special regulations are used
and evaluated to meet a specific fisheries objective.
(b) The commissioner may designate any waters of the state
having free access to the public as experimental waters. The
designated experimental waters may not exceed 100 200 lakes and
25 50 streams at one time. For all experimental waters, the
commissioner shall develop an evaluation plan and specify a
termination date. On the termination date, the commissioner
shall vacate or extend the experimental waters designation, or
designate the experimental waters as special management waters
under section 97C.005. The commissioner shall by rule establish
methods and criteria for public initiation of experimental
waters designation and for public participation in the
evaluation of the waters designated.
(c) Designation of experimental waters under this section
is not subject to chapter 14.
Sec. 13. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [CONTESTS WITHOUT A PERMIT.] A person may conduct
a fishing contest with entry fees of $10, or less, per person
and total prizes valued at $2,000, or less, without a permit
from the commissioner. provided:
(1) the following criteria are met:
(i) there are 30 participants or less for open water
contests and 150 participants or less for ice fishing contests;
(ii) the entry fee is $25 per person or less;
(iii) the total prize value is $25,000 or less; and
(iv) the contest is not limited to trout species only;
(2) the following criteria are met:
(i) the contest is not limited to specifically named
waters; and
(ii) the contest is not limited to trout species only; or
(3) all the contest participants are age 18 years or under.
Sec. 14. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081,
subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3. [CONTESTS AUTHORIZED BY COMMISSIONER REQUIRING A
PERMIT.] The commissioner may, by rule or permit, allow fishing
contests with entry fees over $10 per person or total prizes
valued at more than $2,000. (a) A person must have a permit
from the commissioner to conduct a fishing contest that does not
meet the criteria in subdivision 2. Permits shall be issued
without a fee.
(b) If entry fees are over $25 per person, or total prizes
are valued at more than $25,000, and if the applicant has either:
(1) not previously conducted a fishing contest requiring a
permit under this subdivision; or
(2) ever failed to make required prize awards in a fishing
contest conducted by the applicant, the commissioner may require
the applicant to furnish the commissioner evidence of financial
responsibility in the form of a surety bond or bank letter of
credit in the amount of $25,000. Permits must be issued without
a fee and if the commissioner does not deny the permit within 14
days, excluding holidays, after receipt of an application, the
permit is granted.
Sec. 15. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 6. [PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS.] (a) Beginning
September 1 each year, the commissioner shall accept permit
applications for fishing contests to be held in the following
year.
(b) If the number of permit applications received by the
commissioner from September 1 through the last Friday in October
exceeds the limits specified in subdivisions 7 and 8, the
commissioner shall notify the affected applicants that their
requested locations and time period are subject to a drawing.
After notification, the commissioner shall allow the affected
applicants a minimum of seven days to change the location or
time period requested on their applications, provided that the
change is not to a location or time period for which
applications are already at or above the limits specified in
subdivisions 7 and 8.
(c) After the applicants have been given at least seven
days to change their applications, the commissioner shall
conduct a drawing for all locations and time periods for which
applications exceed limits. First preference in the drawings
shall be given to applicants for established or traditional
fishing contests, and second preference to applicants for
contests that are not established as traditional fishing
contests based on the number of times they have been
unsuccessful in previous drawings. Except for applicants of
established or traditional fishing contests, an applicant who is
successful in a drawing loses all accumulated preference.
(d) The commissioner has until December 7 to approve or
deny permit applications that are submitted by 4:30 p.m. on the
last Friday in October. The commissioner may approve a permit
application that is received after 4:30 p.m. on the last Friday
in October if approving the application would not result in
exceeding the limits in subdivisions 7 and 8.
Sec. 16. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 7. [WEEKEND LIMITATIONS.] (a) On all waters 55,000
acres or less, the commissioner may ensure that each of the
state's waters has at least two weekends per month with no
permitted fishing contests.
(b) Unless otherwise authorized by the commissioner,
permitted fishing contests that are conducted for more than one
day may not include more than one weekend day from Memorial Day
weekend through Labor Day weekend.
(c) The commissioner may not approve permits for fishing
contests on a weekend with a fishing season opener if the
contest targets a species for which the season is opening.
Sec. 17. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 8. [LIMITS ON NUMBER OF FISHING CONTESTS.] (a) The
number of permitted fishing contests allowed each month on a
water body shall not exceed the following limits:
Maximum number Maximum number Maximum number
of permitted of large of permitted
fishing permitted fishing
contests fishing contest
contests days
Size/acres
less than
2,000 2 0 4
2,000-4,999 3 1 6
5,000-14,999 4 2 8
15,000-55,000 5 3 10
more than
55,000 no limit no limit no limit
(b) For boundary waters, the limits on the number of
permitted fishing contests shall be determined based on the
Minnesota acreage.
Sec. 18. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 9. [PERMIT RESTRICTIONS.] (a) The commissioner may
require fishing contest permittees to limit prefishing to week
days only as a condition of a fishing contest permit. The
commissioner may require proof from permittees that prefishing
restrictions on the permit are communicated to fishing contest
participants and enforced.
(b) The commissioner may require permit restrictions on the
hours that a permitted fishing contest is conducted, including,
but not limited to, starting and ending times.
(c) The commissioner may require permit restrictions on the
number of parking spaces that may be used on a state-owned
public water access site. The commissioner may require proof
from permittees that parking restrictions on the permit are
communicated to fishing contest participants and enforced.
(d) To prevent undue loss of fish, the commissioner may
require restrictions for off-site weigh-ins on a fishing contest
permit or may deny permits requesting an off-site weigh-in.
(e) A person may not transfer a fishing contest permit to
another person.
(f) Failure to comply with fishing contest permit
restrictions may be considered grounds for denial of future
permit applications.
Sec. 19. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.081, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 10. [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this section, the
following terms have the meanings given:
(a) "Permitted fishing contest" means an open water fishing
contest or ice fishing contest that requires a permit from the
commissioner under subdivision 3.
(b) "Large permitted fishing contest" means an open water
fishing contest with more than 50 boats or more than 100
participants that requires a permit from the commissioner under
subdivision 3.
(c) "Participant" means a person who is taking part in a
fishing contest.
(d) "Permitted fishing contest day" means a day on a water
body where a permitted fishing contest is held. Two permitted
fishing contests that are held on the same water body on the
same day count as two permitted fishing contest days.
(e) "Off-site weigh-in" means a weigh-in of fish from a
fishing contest at a location that is not adjacent to the waters
listed on the fishing contest permit.
(f) "Prefishing" means fishing by participants of a
permitted fishing contest prior to the scheduled dates of the
contest on waters listed on the fishing contest permit.
Sec. 20. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 97C.335, as
amended by Laws 2000, chapter 308, section 1, is amended to read:
97C.335 [USE OF ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS TO TAKE FISH PROHIBITED.]
A person may not use artificial lights to lure or attract
fish or to see fish in the water while spearing, except that an
angler may use a lighted fishing lure while angling, a person
may affix to the end of a fishing line a lighted artificial bait
with hooks attached. Any battery that is used in lighted
fishing lures cannot contain any intentionally introduced
mercury.
Sec. 21. [APPROPRIATIONS.]
$200,000 is appropriated from the state forest suspense
account to the commissioner of natural resources for transfer to
the University of Minnesota Duluth for the purpose of funding
the inventory conducted pursuant to this section and is
available until expended. Because the University of Minnesota
is a land grant university, and because most of the state-owned
land to be inventoried is granted land, the chancellor of the
University of Minnesota Duluth is requested to direct the School
of Business and Economics to conduct an inventory of state-owned
land located within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for the
purpose of providing the legislature and state officers with
more precise information as to the nature, extent, and value of
the land. The inventory must include the following: (1) a list
of the tracts of state-owned land within the area, together with
the available legal description by government tract, insofar as
possible; (2) the number of linear feet of shoreline in each
tract, together with a general description of that shoreline,
whether it is rocky, sandy, or swampy, or some other descriptive
system that generally describes the shoreland; (3) the acreage
of each tract; (4) a general description of the surface of each
tract, including topography and the predominant vegetative cover
for each tract and any known unique surface features, such as
areas of virgin and other old growth timber; and (5) using
available real estate market value information and accepted real
estate valuation techniques, assign estimates of the value for
each tract, exclusive of minerals and mineral interests, using
each of the real estate valuation techniques adopted for the
inventory. For the purposes of this section, "state-owned land"
is defined as any class of state-owned land, whether it is
granted land such as school, university, swampland, or internal
improvement, or whether it is tax-forfeited, acquired, or
state-owned land of any other classification. At the request of
the university, the commissioner of natural resources shall
promptly provide the university with all published maps, whether
federal, state, or county, together with a descriptive list of
state-owned land in the area, using available legal
descriptions, forest inventories, and other factual information,
published data, and photographs that are necessary for the
university's inventory. From these maps, lists, data, and other
information, the university is requested to prepare a report of
its inventory. The legislature requests that the University of
Minnesota submit the report to the legislature by January 15,
2002.
Sec. 22. [EFFECTIVE DATE.]
Section 20 is effective the day following final enactment.
Presented to the governor May 11, 2000
Signed by the governor May 15, 2000, 10:47 a.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes